College basketball Thursday heats up in ACC action as the N.C. State Wolfpack travel down the road to take on the 8th-ranked North Carolina Tarheels. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff and will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds have the Tarheels favored by 13 points with the total sitting at 158.5 points. In an ACC battle with in-state rivalry implications, we could be looking at a great game ahead of us.
Free Analysis: First off, before breaking down the game at all, we look at the total of 158.5 points and think that it has to favor the North Carolina Tarheels, who average more than 85 points per game. The Wolfpack are no offensive slouch, ringing up more than 77 points a game, so we see the combined number of points hanging at 162 points between the two clubs. Roy Williams and his club will have to replace starting guard Dexter Strickland, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. The team is playing in their first game without Strickland this season, but they are also looking to win their 11th straight contest over North Carolina State in the rivalry. UNC also has won 29 straight games in Chapel Hill. NC State already had 15 wins on the season and is 4-1 in ACC play with wins over lousy teams in Wake Forest, Miami and Boston College. However, with one more win this season the Wolfpack will match last season's ACC win total of five contests. NC State gives up just 68 points per game on average but might have some trouble slowing the Tarheels down. Harrison Barnes is regarded as one of, if not the best overall player in the country and he will have to step up to help take the burden off of Strickland's loss, who was averaging 7.5 points a contest was the best shooter on the squad at 57.0 percent. Currently he leads the ACC in scoring at more than 17 points a game. Up front, North Carolina causes a lot of teams problems with their bigs in Tyler Zeller and John Henson. Zeller brings more than 14 points per game this season and more than 9 rebounds while Henson sports an average line of 14.5 points per game and leads the ACC in rebounding at more than 10 boards a game. In last season's two matchups between the schools Henson ripped down 31 rebounds and totaled 13 blocks, obviously wreaking havoc inside the paint. Wolfpack forward Scott Wood has played well this season, leading the team in scoring at more than 13 points a game, but he's going to have some trouble inside with UNC's front line. He doesn't play well against the Tarheels either, averaging 3.8 points on 16.7 percent shooting in his four career matchups against North Carolina.
Free Pick: I'm going to lay the points here with North Carolina playing against the Wolfpack. NC State hasn't proven anything to me at this point in the season, beating up on sub-par teams. Their best win this season came way back in November against a young and inexperienced Texas team and I think their 15-5 record isn't all it's made out to be. Playing in this game against an in-state rival should tell everything. Normally in contests like this laying too many points isn't a good thing. However, North Carolina has the players and is one of the best teams in the country. NC State has proven nothing at this point other than beating some below average ACC scquads. UNC has won 10 straight in this rivalry and 29 straight overall at home. I think both of those numbers will increase tonight as the Tarheels win going away.
Free Picks: NC State at North Carolina Betting
North Carolina has dominated this rivalry and Poor foul shooting is always a concern plus other factors college basketball bettors need to know about NC State at North Carolina (Thursday, January 26, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Scott Spreitzer.